Now they who are bent on denying the truth are wont to ask, "Why has not the Qur'an been bestowed on him from on high in one single re-velation?"
26 [It has been revealed] in this manner so that We might strengthen thy heart thereby-for We have so arranged its component parts that they from one consistent whole.
27
Asad Translation Note Number :
Lit., "in one piece" or "as one statement" (jumlatan wahidatan) - implying, in the view of the opponents of Islam, that the gradual, step-by-step revelation of the Qur'an points to its having been "composed" by Muhammad to suit his changing personal and political requirements.
I.e., free of all inner contradictions (cf. 4:82 ). See also 39:23 , where the Qur'an is spoken of as "fully consistent within itself". The concise phrase rattalnahu tartilan comprises the parallel concepts of "putting the component parts [of a thing] together and arranging them well" as well as "endowing it with inner consistency". Inasmuch as full consistency and freedom from contradictions in a message spread over twenty-three years of a life as full of movement and drama as that of the Prophet does give a clear indication of its God-inspired quality, it is bound to strengthen the faith of every thinking believer: and herein lies, according to the Qur'an itself, the deepest reason for its slow, gradual revelation. (When applied to the reciting of the Qur'an - as in 73:4 - the term tartil refers to the measured diction and the thoughtful manner in which it ought to be enunciated.)